Nailing device



Nov. 28, 1961 c. A. BRUCE 3,010,496

NAILING DEVICE Filed June 24, 1960 3 sheets-sheet 1 FIG. I.

FIG.2. 8

INVENTOR.

v I8 FIG- 4. 1* 3 l4 k\\\\\\\\\\\\ 24 ATTORNEYS CHARLES ARTHUR BRUCE BMW Nov. 28, I961 c. A. BRUCE 3,010,496

NAILING DEVICE Filed June 24, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 7.

INVENTOR.

CHARLES ARTHUR BRUCE F l 6. IO." BY

ATTOR NEYS Nov. 28, 1961 c. A. BRUCE 3,

' NAILING DEVICE Filed June 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 //\/A2"56 CHAI, ES ARTHUR BRUCE I54 gvgmi ATTORNEYS United States Patent 9 3,010,496 NAILING DEVICE Charles Arthur Bruce, Memphis, Tenn., assignor to E. L. Bruce Company, Memphis, Tenn., a corporation of Delaware Filed June 24, 1960, Ser. No. 38,666 Claims. (Cl. 145-46) This invention relates to a nailing device. More particularly, it relates to a device useful in connection with the nailing of tongue and groove members, for example, tongue and groove hardwood flooring. To simplify the description and not by way of limitation tongue and groove flooring will be referred to as illustrative of a typical tongue and groove member.

The need for an inexpensive nailing device which will insure the proper nailing of tongue and groove flooring is a very substantial one particularly in view of the shortage of professional mechanics skilled in the application of flooring and in view of the large amount of flooring being laid by do-it-yourself individuals.

The need for the device in accordance with this invention has been accentuated by the ever growing use of tongue and groove flooring which has been completely finished at the factory, and which when installed is immediately serviceable. Such flooring isnot only finished but a substantial portion of the finished flooring also is waxed at the factory. The device of this invention completely protects tongue and groove flooring from any damage to the finished and waxed surface which would mar the appearance of the flooring when installed. By the same token, since the device prevents the hammer from contacting the flooring, it prevents the head of the hammer from accumulating wax as occurs in hand nailing of waxed factory finished tongue and groove flooring and which results in glancing blows and bent nails incident to the deflection of the hammer head which, in turn, can result in damage to the edges and finished surface of the flooring.

Of major importance, the device of this invention insures the driving of the nail at the correct angle when blind nailing and prevents the driving of the nail from splitting the tongue. Obviously, a nail driven into a split tongue cannot function properly to hold down the flooring since a split tongue has no holding power. The device of this invention acts to prevent splitting of the tongue even when the nail is placed very close to the end of the flooring piece in a position where splitting would invariably occur with straight hand nailing.

The prevention of splitting of the tongue by the device of this invention is a marked step forward since the trend is towards the use of thinner flooring which, of course, splits more readily than thicker flooring. Thus, for example, there is a marked trend toward the production of /8" thick flooring in lieu of the heretofore almost universally used nominal 1 thick flooring which actually is of an inch in thickness. It has been found that thick flooring has enough wearing surface to last for the normal lifetime of a. building and, of course, its use represents a substantial conservation of raw material. The device in accordance with this invention has been found to function with complete satisfaction when /8 thick flooring is employed, whereas even a highly skilled mechanic will split some tongues when nailing flooring of this thickness using straight hand nailing.

The device of this invention is advantageous since it can be employed for both blind nailing and face nailing of flooring. Further, while using a single nail set, it automatically sets the nail at the right depth when face nailing or blind nailing.

The device of this invention is further advantageous in that if the nail should be bent while being driven it 3,010,496 Patented Nov. 28, 1961 "ice 2 can readily be removed by the claw of a hammer without in any way damaging the flooring.

In addition, the nailing device of this invention is useful in positioning the flooring to the proper posito'n for nailing. Also it can be employed to carryout the required face nailing, for example, when laying the first and last courses of flooring.

Other objects of this invention will become apparent when reading the following description in conjunction with the drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the nailing device in accordance with this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical section taken on the plane indicated by the line L-2 in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical sectional view showing the device of FIGURE 1 employed to blind nail a piece of tongue and groove flooring;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical sectional view of the device of FIGURE 1 shown employed to face nail a piece of tongue and groove flooring;

FIGURE 5 is a front perspective view showing the device of FIGURE 1 being employed to face nail a piece of flooring, the view showing the initial hammering of a nail;

FIGURE 6 is a front perspective view of the device of FIGURE 1 being employed in face nailing a piece of flooring, the view showing the employment of a nail set to countersink the nail in the flooring;

FIGURE 7 is a vertical sectional view showing the employment of the device in FIGURE 1 to flatten a pair of tongue and groove flooring members against a subfloor;

FIGURE 8 is a front perspective view showing the device of FIGURE 1 being employed to tightly engage the groove of one flooring member with the tongue of an adjacent flooring member; 7

FIGURE 9 is a front perspective view showing the device of FIGURE 1 being employed to blind nail a piece of flooring, the view showing the initial hammering of the floor nail;

FIGURE 10 is a bottom perspective view of a modified nailing device in accordance with this invention;

FIGURE 11 is a vertical sectional view showing the device of FIGURE 10 in position for blind nailing;

FIGURE 12 is a plan view of a modified nailing device in accordance with this invention FIGURE 13 is a vertical section taken on the plane indicated by the line 13-13 in FIGURE 12;

FIGURE 14 is a vertical sectional view of the use of the device of FIGURE 12 in combination with a novel nail set to blind nail a piece of tongue and groove FIGURE 15 is a plan view partially broken away of the novel nail set shown in FIGURE 14; and

FIGURE 16 is a vertical sectional view of the nailing device and nail set of FIGURE 15 being employed to face nail a piece of flooring.

As shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 a nailing device 2' in accordance with this invention has a supporting plate 4 which is adapted to rest on the member to be nailed. Integrally secured to plate 4' is a head 6 which is provided with a lower face 8 which is adapted to abut against a supporting surface, for example, a subfloor to which flooring is to be secured. A straight-sided groove 10 has a curved face 12 and is adapted to envelop the tongue of the member to be nailed. Shoulders 14 and 16 adjacent groove 10 are adapted to abut against the face of the member to be nailed adjacent the members tongue.

Head 6 is provided with a front face 18 and a bevelled face 20. Head 6 is provided with a nail guide opening 22 which extends from face 20 through head 6 to groove 10 and shoulder 14. Advantageously, the axis of open ing 22 will make anangle of from about 40 to about 55 with the plane of plate 4. Thus, in the casevof flooring, opening22 will guide the flooring nail so as to enter the flooring at an angle of from about 40 to about 55 to the horizontal. Opening 22 is slightly recessed at 24 to act as a starting guide for the nail and for the punch.

'A nail guide opening 26 is placed in the rear of plate 4. Opening 26 has a recessed portion 28 to act as a starting guide for a nail or a punch. Opening 26 is employed to guide a nail for face nailing. The thickness of plate 4 and hence the depth of opening 26 is selected so that the nail set used for blind nailing will, when used for face nailing, set the nail at the desired depth. As shown, the depth of opening 26 is about equal to the depth of opening 22 from face 20 to the closest portion of groove 10. 7

FIGURE 3 illustrates the alignment of the nailing device 2 when employed to blind nail tongue and groove flooring 30. Flooring 30 has a groove 32 and a straightsided tongue 34 having a rounded end 36 which is enveloped by groove 10. Shoulders 14 and 16 abut against the edge 38 of flooring 30 which is adjacent tongue 34. Plate 4 overlies the flooring 30 and face 8 rests against subfioor 40. A nail set 42 having a punch member 43 is shown just after it has completed driving flooring nail 44 to its final position. Flooring nail 44 is selected to have a head 46 which is just slightly larger than opening 22.

' It will be noted that as nail 44 is driven into flooring 30 the entire tongue 34 is encompassed and fully supported by head 6 which also abuts tightly against face 38 adjacent tongue 34. This support for tongue 34 prevents it from splitting-while the nail is being driven. It will further be noted that the accurate'positioning of nail 44 by opening 22 results in head 46 being finally located well below the wearing surface of flooring 30 and clear of any hindrance with the groove of the next flooring piece to be added. Face 20 of head 6 limits the travel of punch 42 by engaging shoulder 47 of punch 42. Referring now to FIGURE 4, nailing device 2 has been inverted and placed on a piece of flooring 30 supported by subfioor 40 in order to face nail the flooring to subfloor 40. As shown, nail 44 has been driven perpendicularly downwardly guided by opening 26 and punch 42 has progressed also downwardly through opening 26 almost to the position where it will be stopped by engaging plate 4. FIGURE similarly shows the nailing device 2 inverted and being employed to face nail flooring 30 to subfloor 40. Nail 44 is shown just as hammer 50 is commencing to drive it into flooring 30. FIGURE 6 illustrates the completion of the face nailing started in FIGURE 5 and shows punch 42 being driven through opening 26 by hammer 50. 7

FIGURE 7 shows the nailing device 2 inverted and overlapping adjacent flooring members 30. By hammering on device 2 with hammer 50 any bowing or unevenness in flooring members at their junction can be removed.

. FIGURE 8 shows the nailing device 2 employed to bring a flooring member 30 which is to be nailed into close contact with the next adjacent flooring member 30.

By hammering face 18 with hammer 50 flooring member '30 will be driven rearwardly as viewed in FIGURE 8 and brought into tight contact with the adjacent flooring member 30.

FIGURE 9 illustrates the next step after the operation shown in FIGURE 8, that is, the blind nailing of the end flooring member 30 employing hammer 50. As shown, nail 44 has been entered in opening 22 which will guide it during the hammering, tongue 34 being fully supported as previously discussed.

An alternative slightly modified nailing device 62 is shown in FIGURE 10. Device 62 differs from the device 2 only in that it has a rasp face 68 in lieu of the smooth face 8 of the device 2. Plate 64, head 66, groove 70, shoulders 74 and 76, face 80, opening 82 and opening 88 are the same as structural elements 4, 6, 10, 14, 16, 20, 22 and 26 in the device 2. As shown in FIGURE 11, where the device 62 is shown in position for blind nailing, the points 78 of rasp face 68 are directed away from shoulders 74 and 76 to permit the device 62to go into the position shown (FIGURE 11) readily and to resist withdrawal from that position, thus helping to maintain device 62 in good contact with the flooring members 30.

Alternative nailing apparatus is shown in FIGURES 12 through 16. This apparatus is highly advantageous in that it incorporates a structure which precludes even a very unskilled do-it-yourself user from breaking otf nail set points due to driving a hammer blow on the nail set when it is not accurately aligned with the openings in the nailing device, and kept aligned as the nail is finally driven home. It is of particular importance in the light of the trend towards the use by those with little skill of relatively thin flooring which splits readily if the nail is improperly directed. Further, this alternative structure is advantageous in thatit is provided with means for wiping clean the nail head fragments which tend to separate from the nails as they are driven.

Referring particularly to FIGURES 12 and 13, a nailing device 102 in accordance with this invention has an elongated supporting plate 104 which is adapted to rest on the member to be nailed. Integrally secured to plate 104 is a head 106 which is provided with a lower face 108 which is adapted to abut against a supporting surface, for example, a subfloor to which flooring is to be secured. A groove 110 is adapted to envelop the tongue of the member to be nailed, while shoulders 114 and 116 are adapted to abut against the face of the member to be nailed adjacent the members tongue.

Head 106 is provided with a front face 118 and a beveled face 120. Head 106 is provided with a cylindrical opening 122 which communicates with a tapered opening 124 which has its exterior end in a boss 125 which is recessed from face 120 to prevent it from being burred by hammer blows. Such burrs result in throwing the nail set out of proper position and increase the force needed to drive the nail set home, both of which increase nail set breakage. Openings 122 and 124 are adapted to receive a nail and a cooperating nail set and have a common axis which advantageously makes an angle of from about 40 to about 55 with the plane of plate 104. Coaxial cylindrical opening 126 and tapered opening 128 are placed in the rear of plate 4 for the guidance of a nail and a cooperating nail set for face nailing.

Referring to FIGURE 15, nail set 130 constructed to coact with nailing device 102 is provided with a driving end 132 connected integrally to a body portion 134 by a tapered portion 136 which strengthens the driving end and makes breakage less likely. Body portion 134 has integrally secured thereto an enlarged head 138 which is adapted to be struck by a hammer. A sleeve 140 encompasses body portion 134 and is free to move axially relative to body portion 134. After being assembled to body portion 134, sleeve 140 is provided with a circumferential crease which extends inwardly towards reduced portion 144 of body portion 134. The engagement of crease 142 with body portion 134 at the left-hand end of reduced portion 144 (as viewed in FIGURE 15) limits the movement of sleeve 140 to the left (as viewed in FIGURE 15). The length of sleeve 140 is selected so that the head 138 will not strike it during the operation of driving a nail. This permits the use ofa readily malleable material such as soft steelfor the sleeve 140 so it may be creased in position, and without the danger of the sleeve becoming distorted in use.

Sleeve 140 is adapted to engage snugly the inner wall of circumferential groove 146 surrounding boss 125 and opening 124 in the nailing device 104. The cooperation between sleeve 140 and groove 146 acts to align the axis of nail set 130 with the axis of openings 122 and 124, thus preventing the exertion of forces on driving end 132 which would tend to break it off. The groove 146 being wider than sleeve 140 provides room for the workman to see what he is doing and prevents harm from any burring in the outer surface of the outer groove wall. Since the driving end 132 of the nail set 130 is not now required for alignment, it i made so as to have a slightly smaller diameter than the diameter of opening 122 so as to permit the passage of small sli of steel f o the nails between opening 122 and driving end 132 of nail set 130. The slight spacing of driving end 132 from the walls of opening 122 is important for the protection of the driving end from being broken 011. Further stabilizing of the axis of nail set 130 on the axis of openings 122 and 124 is contributed by the interaction between tapered portion 136 of nail set 130 and tapered opening 124, the former being constructed to fit snugly into the latter when the nail has been driven fully from nd provide together with shoulder 147 of nail set 130 a r nyi l ing s which has a high resistmce to breakage as compared to reliance simply on the shoulder alone.

Similarly, for face nailing, sleeve 140 is adapted to engage snugly the inner wall of circumferential groove 148 surrounding opening 128 to align the axis of nail set 130 with the axis of openings 126 and 128. Similarly, the opening 126 not being required for alignment now is slightly larger in diameter than the diameter of driving end 132 of nail set 130.

The interaction of the nailing device 102 and the nail set 130 is illustrated for blind nailing in FIGURE 14 where it is shown after a nail 150 has been driven into a piece of tongue and groove flooring 152 to secure it to a subfioor 154. The tongue 156 is enveloped by groove 110 while faces 158 and 160 are abutted by shoulders 114 and 116 of nailing device 102. The correct positioning of the axis of nail set 130'is, as shown, maintained by engagement of sleeve 140 with groove 146 with additional support being provided by tapered face 136 with tapered opening 124.

As shown in FIGURE 16, when plate 104 is reversed from the position in FIGURE 14, it serves in cooperation with nail set 130 for face nailing of flooring 152. The thickness of plate 104 and hence the depth of opening 126 being selected so that the nail set 130 used for blind nailing will, when used for face nailing, set the nail at the desired depth.

The importance of the above described sleeve and groove guidance structure is emphasized by a consideration of the character of standard flooring nails with which it is designed to be used. Such nails have heads slightly larger than their shanks, so that when they are in final position in the floor the head will serve to hold the flooring in place. Since the hole in the tool must be large enough to accommodate the nail head as well as the shank, there results a displacement of the shank from the axis of the hole. Absent the above described guidance structure there is a tendency to align the nail set with the shank of the nail which rnisaligns it with the hole. This tends to cause breakage of the nail set, a tendency which is eliminated by the above described structure.

Further, standard nails are not obtainable with exactly uniform heads, Thus, some of the heads which are larger than average must be forced through the hole in the nailing device. The additional force required in such cases increases nail set breakage where the nail set is not properly aligned as by the above described guidance structure.

Since the nail set is of necessity designed to conform to the structure in the nailing device of this invention and cannot be replaced by standard punch, it is obviously of great importance to produce a structure wherein nail set breakage will be reduced to a minimum. It will be apparent that where nail set breakage occurs even with 6 m r f q e y y g ea t m d y m y be i curred.

This is a continuation-in-part based on copending application Serial No. 731,322, filed on April 28, 1958, nd now abandoned.

It is not desired to be limited except as set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination, a nailing device for nailing a tongue and groove member comprising a supporting plate adapted to rest on a tongue and groove member, a head integrally connected to said plate and having a face adapted to abut against a supporting surface, said head having a groove which is adapted to envelop the tongue of said tongue and groove memberand having a pair of shoulders adjacent to said groove adapted to abut against the edge of said tongue and groove member adjacent said tongue and an opening in said head for the passage of a nail and a nail set, said opening extending through the head to said groove and the shoulder adjacent the supporting plate and said device having a recess spaced from the outer end of said opening, and a nail set comprising a driving portion adapted to pass through said opening, a body portion integral with said driving portion, a sleeve slidably secured to said body portion and adapted to engage said recess to orient the axis of the nail set and restrict the tilting thereof.

2. In combination, a nailing device for nailing a tongue and groove member comprising a suporting plate adapted to rest on a tongue and groove member, a head integrally connected to said plate and having a face adapted to abut against a supporting surface, said head having a groove which is adapted to envelop the tongue of said tongue and groove member and having a pair of shoulders adjacent to said groove adapted to abut against the edge of said tongue and groove member adjacent said tongue and an opening in said head for the passage of a nail and a nail set, said opening extending through the head to said groove and the shoulder adjacent the supporting plate and said device having a circumferential recess spaced from the outer end of said opening, and a nail set comprising a driving portion adapted to pass through said opening, a body portion integral with said driving portion, a sleeve slidably secured to said body portion and adapted to engage said recess to orient the axis of the nail set and restrict the tilting thereof.

3. In combination, a nailing device for nailing a tongue and groove member comprising a supporting plate adapted to rest on a tongue and groove member, a head integrally connected to said plate and having a face adapted to abut against a supporting surface, said head having a groove which is adapted to envelop the tongue of said tongue and groove member and having a pair of shoulders adjacent to said groove adapted to abut against the edge of said tongue and groove member adjacent said tongue and an opening in said head for the passage of a nail and a nail set, said opening extending through the head to said groove and the shoulder adjacent the supporting plate and said device having a recess spaced from the outer end of said opening, and a nail set comprising a driving portion adapted to pass through said opening, a body portion integral with said driving portion, a head secured integrally to said body portion, a sleeve slidably secured to said body portion and adapted to engage said recess to orient the axis of the nail set and restrict the tilting thereof, said sleeve being shorter than said body portion so as to be free of said head in operation.

4. In combination, a nailing device for nailing a tongue and groove member comprising a supporting plate adapted to rest on a tongue and groove member, a head integrally connected to said plate and having a face adapted to abut against a supporting surface, said head having a groove which is adapted to envelop the tongue of said tongue and groove member and having a pair of shoulders adjacent to'said groove adapted to abut against the edge of said tongue and groove member adjacent said tongue and'an opening in said head for the passage of a nail and a nail set, said opening extending through the head to said groove and the shoulder adjacent the supporting plate and said device having a recess spaced from the outer end of said opening, and a nailrset comprising a driving portion adapted to pass through said opening, a cylindrical body portion integral with said driving portion, a cylindrical sleeve slidably secured to said body portion and adapted to engage said recess to orient the axis of the nail set and restrict the tilting thereof, said sleeve havingbetween the'ends thereof an inwardly extending projection and said body having a reduced portion between its ends to accommodate the said projection for a predetermined amount of travel.

5. In combination, a nailing device for nailing a tongue and groove member comprising a supporting plate adapted to rest on a tongue and groove member, a head integrally connected to said plate and having a face adapted to abut against .a supporting surface, said head having a groove which is adapted to envelop the tongue of said tongue and groove member, a pair of shoulders adjacent to said groove adapted to abut against the edge of said tongue and groove member adjacent said tongue, a boss recessed from the side of the head opposite said groove in the head and an opening in said boss for the passage of a nail and a nail set, said opening extending through the head to said groove and the shoulder adjacent the supporting plate and said device having a recess spaced from the outer end of said opening, and a nail set comprising a driving portion adapted to pass through said opening, a body portion integral with said driving portion, a sleeve slidably secured to said body portion and adapted to engage said recess to orient the axis of the nail set and restrict the tilting thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 788,564 Thompson May 2, 1905 1,016,383 Wellman Feb. 6, 1912 1,431,463 Keyzer Oct. 10, 1922 2,557,000 Holmes June 12, 1951 2,799,860 Meyers July 23, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 5,414 Great Britain AD. 1893 

